


New Year, New Me

by emoshuichi



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Basically just the lead up to Season 53 for each character, Pregame Danganronpa, Some of the basic headcanons for the main characters but with my own take on it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28461996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emoshuichi/pseuds/emoshuichi
Summary: Everyone knows the fictional characters that they grew to be, but what about their lives before that?(Tags will be updated as story progresses)
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Kudos: 8





	1. Shuichi

Shuichi focused his gaze on the ground as he passed the crowds of other students.  _ Just keep walking, Saihara,  _ he urged himself, increasing his pace as he made eye contact with a blonde-haired girl,  _ it will all be fine, don’t panic, don’t panic.  _ He felt the throng of students quieten for a moment as he passed them by, before erupting into pitifully obvious whispers. They mockingly whispered and gossiped amongst themselves, pointing and giggling at him. 

“Isn’t that the Saihara boy?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“What a freak,” one spat.

“Look at the way that he doesn’t even want to look at us,” another jeered, pointing to him. “I bet he doesn’t even have any friends.”

Shuichi shook his head and began walking faster away from them, desperately attempting to block out the voices that followed him.  _ Don’t listen to them, don’t listen to them, they’re stupid, stupid!  _ He hated every single one of them; they’d make his life a living hell on a daily basis, taunting him, teasing him, milking every insecurity he’d ever had, laughing when he begged for them to stop. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone? Why,  _ why?  _ They were all liars and hypocrites, mercilessly looking down on him for enjoying watching Danganronpa, when in reality, they all loved the show too, even if they didn’t want to admit it. How else would they be able to name the character pins that he’d have on his backpack, or the various pieces of merchandise that he’d bring to school with him? Shuichi supposed that it was partially his fault as well, since he was being so open about enjoying such a dark and gory show, but it had become so normalised online that he didn’t see why it should be any different when it came to real life. 

He was the one who was bullied the most out of the members of his class. It had become known that Class 53 of their high school were some of the biggest fans of Danganronpa ever, though some still managed to deny these accusations and fit in with the rest of the crowd. It had been Shuichi who was first discovered to be a fan of the show, and ever since then he’d become the prime target for bullying, despite other students in the class being the exact same as him. The teachers had done nothing to help him, in fact, they encouraged the violent behaviour towards the 53rd class. Before all of this, he’d been one of the favourite students amongst the teachers, due to his exceptional intelligence and tendency to be quiet and non-disruptive in their lessons. Things really took a turn for the worst when that had been uncovered.

Shuichi walked into his class, head still bent. Nervously, he adjusted his hat over his head, not wanting to deal with the same awkwardness from earlier. He took his usual seat at the back corner of the room - it wasn't like he was going to be paying attention in this class anyways. The person in the seat in front of him turned their head when they noticed him sitting down, before sniggering and racing over to the other side of the room to talk to other people like them. Shuichi sighed; today was going to be a long day, but then again, it always was.

"Shuichi!" A short, pale, almost sickly looking, boy ran over to him, nearly colliding with a locker as he did so.

"Hey Kokichi," he said softly. "How was your day? I didn't see Kaito in school today, so it must have been a little easier for you, right?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Kokichi, happily walking out of the building with him. "No punches, or kicks, or anything! Just a couple weird looks, but I can manage that! Today's been great!" Kokichi looked at Shuichi, who was fidgeting with his hat. "Are… you okay? How was your day?"

"Oh, it was fine. Just the usual." Shuichi brushed it off dismissively, not wanting to make him worry. Slowly, they walked down the road together, with Kokichi chatting about whatever he felt like and Shuichi occasionally giving input on the subject or just merely nodding. Deep down, he felt guilty for the suffering that Kokichi had to face, especially since most of it was his fault.

It wasn't like it was intentional or anything; Kokichi had simply just gotten caught up in the mess that he'd created. First, they'd been caught holding hands, much to Kaede's (his girlfriend at the time) shock. She'd immediately spread the word around the school about how he'd cheated on her, and just to make sure that he'd suffer, information about his love for all things Danganronpa. Being the popular girl that she'd always been, no one hesitated to gang up on him, and Kokichi had to bear it as well, which Shuichi always felt awful for making him go through. Kaede's friends hadn't made it any easier for him, and Kokichi would often appear with more and more bruises and bandages as the days went by.

Kokichi tugged on his arm. "Hey Shuichi? I know you're probably pretty tired, since you're a little out of it, but have a look at this."

Shuichi turned his head to where he was pointing, finding a large poster tacked up to the wall.

_ Danganronpa - Season 53 is nearly here! Team Danganronpa is looking for 16 lucky fans to participate in the next game, and  _ **_you_ ** _ could be one of them. All it takes is a simple audition explaining why you'd like to join, and other information regarding your interests and anything that you'd like to be taken into consideration. See the official Danganronpa website for more details. _

Shuichi's eyes sparkled as he read that. "Oh wow!" he said excitedly. "I'm gonna sign up right now!"

Kokichi grabbed his hands. "Shuichi, you can't! Don't you know how dangerous it could be?"

"But that's all part of the fun," replied Shuichi. "To kill or be killed, and then to expose the crimes of others and crush their hopes of ever escaping. I've always dreamed of being a part of Danganronpa."

"But what if you die? I'll be alone without you, and they'll all bully me, and-"

Shuichi grinned mischievously. "Well then Kokichi, if you're that worried about me, why don't you join too? Then you can be with me, and you won't need to be worried about being bullied."

"But Shuichi!" protested Kokichi. 

"Just think it over, okay?" Shuichi said, giving him a swift hug goodbye. "We're at your house now, so just text me what you think when you've had a chance to consider it."

Kokichi sighed. "Fine," he said, walking along the path and towards the front door. "But just so you know, I won't be changing my mind anytime soon."

And in response, Shuichi nodded intently.

  
  


°°°

Kokichi gulped. "Are you sure we should do this?" he asked for the millionth time. "Maybe we could just forget about this, and go some place to eat, and we can watch reruns of some of the other seasons?"

"Kokichi," Shuichi said simply, putting his arm around him. "You know what my response is going to be. Just calm down, okay? We can go out to eat after we're done auditioning."

"It's not that," whispered Kokichi. "If I get accepted, what will I do then? I don't wanna die Shuichi!"

"It will be fine," he said reassuringly, taking a step forward as the queue moved. "It's gonna be our turn soon. You remembered to fill out the application form I sent you, right?"

Kokichi nodded, watching as the queue moved yet again. "It's your turn now. Be careful."

"I've got nothing to worry about," answered Shuichi as he walked through the guarded door. "I'll see you later."

He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding light that shone upon him as he entered. A voice from a speaker spoke to him from the other side of the room.

"Please face the camera and speak directly into the microphone that has been set up. State your name and audition number upon entry, and questions will be asked as the audition proceeds. Thank you."

Shuichi took a deep breath, walked over to the microphone as instructed and said firmly, "Number 154...my name is…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Here's the late Christmas present that I mentioned last time, so I hope it's fine.
> 
> Happy New Year everyone, and have a spectacular day/night! <3


	2. Kaede

Kaede watched as the throngs of students passed her by in the hallways. They made to avoid eye contact with her, for fear of being the next target of her relentless jokes. Amongst the crowd, she picked out a familiar blue-haired boy. Kaede glared at him. Then, with a flip of her hair, she sauntered off to the girls’ bathrooms. Upon seeing her presence, the other people immediately moved out of her way and hurried to their next classes. They would whisper in each other’s ears as they did so, but they knew to not say anything against her.  _ Whatever,  _ Kaede would think,  _ their opinions are worthless to me anyways.  _ She locked herself into the nearest cubicle, kicking the door in frustration. 

She knew that wasn’t true. Everyone’s words hurt her. Every single glare, whisper and insult that came her way, they would hurt her like the sharp bite of a blade against her skin. But she was tired of being the person for people to take their stress out on. No more would she be the victim. Everyone had been against her, and even now they were, but at least now she was at the top of the school hierarchy. She wouldn’t have to grovel at the feet of those who acted stronger than her anymore.  _ No one  _ could hurt her anymore.  _ Especially not you Shuichi,  _ she added in her mind, as she rinsed her hands and walked over to her class.

As the final bell of the day rang, a tall teenage boy with equally as tall hair approached her. “You ready to go or what?” he asked, leaning his arm on the front of her desk.

Kaede sighed. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They walked side by side in silence, which added to the intimidating effect that they gave off. A first year boy dropped some of his school books at the sight of them, which made Kaede snicker. “Aw, is somebody scared of little old me?” she said mockingly as she walked past. “Good to see that you know what’s best for you.”

Kaito nodded slightly in approval, and as they made their way out of the school gates, he slung one of his arms around her waist. Instantly, Kaede slapped it away and snapped, “Don’t do that!” Then, recomposing herself slightly, she added in an attempt to make herself seem more casual, “What about that girlfriend of yours?”

“Who, Maki?” Kaito cocked his head to the side. “You mean the girl who begged for us not to bully her?”

“Yeah, that one, whatever,” Kaede said, rolling her eyes. “Didn’t she also say that she would be your girlfriend in exchange?”

“I guess…” replied Kaito. “Not that I care anyways. She’s probably only doing it to take my money when I become famous.”

Kaede groaned. “You always say that, but let’s be honest, that’s never going to happen. The only reason you accepted her offer was because you wanted to piss off your ex, right?”

“Yeah, you got me,” Kaito answered, shaking his head. “Wait, what do you mean I’m not gonna be famous? How is someone like me not going to be famous in the future?”

“Because that’s exactly the point,” Kaede added snarkily. “No one like you is going to be famous.”

“You wanna bet?” Kaito said threateningly.

Kaede smirked. “Sure. Game on.”

Kaito’s expression changed suddenly. “Isn’t that Ouma over there? With his boyfriend? What’s his name again?”

Kaede’s head turned in the direction that he was pointing. Indeed, they were on the other side of the road, apparently unaware of her and Kaito’s presence. “Shuichi. Shuichi Saihara,” she muttered. “He’s in our class, dumbass, don’t you already know that?”

Kaito shrugged nonchalantly. “Of course  _ I  _ know that. I was just...checking. Anyways,” he said, trying to change the subject. “What are they looking at?”

“A poster...I think,” Kaede replied. “It’s one of the posters promoting the auditions for Season 53 of Danganronpa. They’re probably thinking of joining.”

“What about us? Are we gonna… join as well?”

“Well, I am,” answered Kaede. “It’s your decision if you want to as well.”

“Of course I am! It’s my chance to become famous!” Kaito exclaimed. 

“Well, it’s settled then, isn’t it?” Kaede said bluntly. “Let’s go. I don’t want to see those two anymore.”

She walked faster, leaving Kaito standing there watching Shuichi and Kokichi, before he brought himself back to his senses and raced after her.

  
  


ººº

When Kaede stepped through her front door, she noticed the house was empty, like always. She tossed her phone onto the kitchen table as she locked the door and put her coat aside. There was a note on the table that she didn’t bother to read.  _ Probably from Mother,  _ Kaede thought. She already knew what it said. Her mother had probably taken her sister out shopping again as a reward for ‘all the effort that she put in’. Whenever she said that Kaede would make a face of disgust. The only reason that her sister was ‘so amazing’ was because she copied her, each outfit, each dream that she’d expressed when she was younger, everything that had given Kaede her unique sense of self. So she’d thrown it all away.  _ She can have all those things that I wanted,  _ Kaede would remind herself,  _ they were never going to happen anyways. You’re too good for those stupid dreams.  _

Her phone lit up with a notification from Kaito. Swiftly, she read it before swiping it away and deciding to reply to it later.

**Momota_Kaito:** Do you wanna meet up for the auditions next week?

**Momota_Kaito:** I’ll meet you outside, k?

**Momota_Kaito:** Don’t forget to fill out the audition slip on the website lol

  
  


ººº

“Kaede!” Kaito beckoned her over, as she drew nearer to him. “You ready to audition?”

“Obviously,” Kaede replied, adjusting her hair while looking at her reflection in the building’s window. “I bet you’re not though.”

Kaito laughed. “Stop trying to get me to kill you before we even get accepted,” he said as they walked inside the building. “I wasn’t sure if you were gonna bail on me. You never responded to my texts, you know?”

Kaede gave him no response. They joined the quickly growing queue of people, and Kaede whipped out her phone to check the time. “What number are you?” she asked.

“Number 428, why?” Kaito replied. “What’s yours?”   
“326,” she said, shutting off her phone and putting it back in her pocket. “The numbers are in the order that you registered, right? So I filled out the audition form before you.” She smiled teasingly. “I should be the one reminding you what to do, not the other way around.”

“Yeah, whatever, I guess,” Kaito noticed that they were getting to the front of the line. “Good luck during your audition. No need to say it back, I don’t need it; I already know that I’m going to get accepted.”

Kaede nodded as she walked into the auditioning room. 

“Please face the camera and speak directly into the microphone that has been set up. State your name and audition number upon entry, and questions will be asked as the audition proceeds. Thank you," a voice said.

Kaede balled her hands into fists, digging her nails into her hands to prevent herself from sounding shaky as she spoke. “I am Number 326, Kaede Akamatsu.”

“Alright then, Kaede,” the voice continued. “Tell me, why should we accept you to be in the next season of Danganronpa.”

Kaede’s mind went blank out of nervousness.  _ Come on, come on!  _ she urged herself in her head,  _ think, think! You need to prove that you’re better, that you’re the best! _

“I don’t have any faith in humanity. I’m perfect for a killing game.” she replied, trying to make herself seem confident.  _ There,  _ she thought,  _ come on Kaede, you’ve got this, channel your anger towards everyone who's ever hurt you. _

“If you were accepted into this season of Danganronpa, what benefit would we have by accepting you?”

Kaede paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “I’m determined to get what I want. I’ll do anything, and face any consequences, if it means that I can achieve my goal. I’ve suffered long enough by having things stolen from me.”

“Final question - are there any things that you would like to suggest for your character? Perhaps a stylistic choice, personality, your talent?”

“I… I want to have a talent related to music,” Kaede said hesitantly. “I can… prove everyone wrong if that happens. Nobody would be able to push me aside if I could prove that I could achieve my dreams.”

And as her audition drew to an end, Kaede felt as though some weight had been taken off of her shoulders. Now all she had to do was wait; wait for confirmation that she could finally do what she’d always dreamed of doing. And this time, no one would throw her off. All of those who were once close to her, they were going to see what she was really capable of. The girl who hid behind a confident mask was no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...even though this fic was supposed to start and end during January, I haven't really had time to write because my school introduced live lessons and they are exhausting lol. I'll try to get back into the habit of writing every day, so I can get some more chapters out soon. Thanks for bothering to read this fic so far.
> 
> Have a spectacular day/night! <3


	3. Ryoma

“Hey Ryoma!” a voice called to him from the other side of the classroom. “You coming round tonight?”

Ryoma looked up from the schedule that he was studying. “Yeah, I guess. I got all my work done during the lunch break earlier, anyways. But didn’t your dad say that we couldn’t come to your place on school days anymore?”

Kirumi laughed. “Who cares about that? What’s he going to do about it anyway? It’s not my fault if we leave a little mess around.”

“A little?” asked Ryoma accusingly. “Was what happened last time  _ really  _ a little?”

“It’s not my fault that my drink got shaken up while it was in my bag!” exclaimed Kirumi, getting up from her seat to come over to him. “We got it cleaned up, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.” Ryoma packed up his things and followed her out of the room. 

“Wanna ditch class?” Kirumi asked, pulling out a piece of gum from her pocket.

Ryoma sighed. “What happened to the responsible person that I knew in middle school?”

“She’s gone,” Kirumi replied simply. “Want a piece of gum?”

Ryoma shook his head before saying, “Fine, let’s go. We better not get caught this time though.”

Swiftly, they snuck out of the school gates, keeping an eye out for any passing teachers in the hallways. Kirumi breathed a sigh of relief, loosened the tie around her neck and turned to him. “See?” she said, pulling off her tie and whirling it around in circular motions. “Told you we wouldn’t get caught this time! If you’d just listen to me more often, we probably could sneak out like this all the time!”

“A reminder that  _ you  _ were the person who got us caught last time,” mentioned Ryoma. “Who’s idea was it to take the route past the headteacher’s office?”

Kirumi shrugged. “Oh well, that was just a fluke. Things happen, you know?” There was a ping from her phone. “Hey, the others are at my place, let’s go.”

“Your dad’s not home?” enquired Ryoma. “How’d they get in?”

“Probably through my bedroom window,” Kirumi said, walking off. “Hurry up, shorty.”

Ryoma groaned. “It’s not my fault that I’m this short,” he muttered, increasing his speed to catch up with her.

  
  


°°°

“Gosh, how long does it take you to get here?” someone said as Kirumi helped him climb through the window. “We’ve been waiting here for ages!”

Kirumi pulled herself through the window, dusted off her clothes and turned to the group waiting inside. “Oh I’m sorry,” she sarcastically apologised. “Was that supposed to make me feel bad?”

The boy laughed. “Still the same as ever, you know that Kirumi? Oh, hey Ryoma, haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Yeah… hey,” Ryoma replied awkwardly. The ‘others’ which Kirumi had described earlier were none other than their former classmates from middle school, who now attended another school on the opposite end of town. The boy who had just spoken to him was Toshiro, and the other two were Kuraim and Mitsue.

“Kiyo isn’t here yet,” Mitsue said. “He said that he got held up with something again.”

“Like anyone believes him,” Kuraim replied, shutting the window. “We all know that he’s just trying to avoid us.”

“Hey, hey! We shouldn’t make assumptions about other people!” Toshiro exclaimed. “So what are we going to do then?” he continued trying to lighten the mood. 

“Eh… I dunno,” Kirumi replied nonchalantly, flopping onto her unmade bed. “Kinda just came here because I got bored of being in school, you know?”

Mitsue sat on the floor before pulling out a fizzy drink from her side pocket and cracking it open. “Truth or dare? That’s interesting I guess.”

“Nah… not exciting enough,” Kuraim answered. “We aren’t just going to skip just to ask random questions about each other.”

“Uh, okay then,” Mitsue said, desperately thinking. “How about just the dares?”   
Kirumi gestured for Ryoma to sit on one of the chairs in her room. “Sure, that sounds fine. You go first Mitsue.”

“I dare… Kuraim to…” Mitsue began. “I don’t know any good dares.”

“Just hurry up already!” a frustrated Kuraim exclaimed. “Make it as stupid or dangerous as possible, I can handle it!”

“I dare you to drink this in less than 5 seconds,” said Mitsue triumphantly, shoving the can into his face.

“Easy.” Kuraim took the can and promptly swallowed the contents. He dropped the can immediately afterwards and began coughing and spluttering. “See? Com- ack- pletely fine!” He went to take a seat on a chair and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Alright, my go. How about I dare Ryoma to do something?”

Ryoma, who had completely zoned out for the entirety of that, looked up in surprise. “Me? Okay, but don’t make it anything stupid.”

“Nothing stupid huh?” said Kuraim, stroking his chin in mock deep thought. “The weirdos in your class like that murder show, right? I dare you to sign up for Danganronpa!”

Ryoma looked stunned. “No… I can’t do that. That’s too risky,” he said nervously. “I don’t even really watch that show anyway, it’s Shuichi who likes th-”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby!” Kuraim declared, getting up and putting an arm around his neck. “Let’s face it, you’re probably not even going to get accepted with an attitude like that. What’s the harm in doing it?”

“I-”

“Maybe we should try something el-” started Mitsue.

“No, I think it’ll be fine,” Toshiro interjected. “There’s hundreds of people auditioning, and even if you get picked you can just turn them down!”

“I really don’t think I should do this guys,” Ryoma said, looking to Kirumi for help.

“I’ll audition with him,” Kirumi said. “That way it’s fair.”

Ryoma’s mouth dropped open. “Don’t give me that look,” Kirumi added, laughing. “Live a little, will you? There are other people in our class auditioning, so why shouldn’t we? Think it over when you get home.”

“Whatever then,” said Kuraim. “Who wants to do the next dare?”

  
  


°°°

Ryoma gulped as he saw the ever growing crowd of people lining up to audition for the next season of Danganronpa. Beside him, Kirumi stood on her phone, nonchalantly chewing on some bubblegum. Each step that they took brought them nearer to that of impending doom. After what seemed like an eternity, they were finally at the front of the line. “You go first,” Kirumi said, giving him a little nudge. “I’m not gonna ditch you so don’t worry, but this was your dare, you know.”

Ryoma didn’t reply; he merely took several deep breaths and walked into the room. As he entered, a voice stated, “Please face the camera and speak directly into the microphone that has been set up. State your name and audition number upon entry, and questions will be asked as the audition proceeds. Thank you."

“My name is Ryoma-”

“Hold on!” One of the Danganronpa staff, a tall (to him, at least) man with an expressionless face raced over to him. “Let me lower the camera first.”

Ryoma waited whilst he adjusted it before continuing, “My name is Ryoma Hoshi. Number… 701.”

“Why should we accept you to be in the next season of Danganronpa?”

"Um… I don't really know," Ryoma said, a little uncertainly. "To be honest, I got dared to do this, but if I have to answer then… I'm good at helping people get what they want. I can help people to survive, I guess.”

There was a pause before the person on the speaker asked the next question. “Are there any things that you would like to suggest for your character? Perhaps a stylistic choice, personality, your talent?”

“I think… I think that I’d like a personality that would be useful to have in a killing game,” answered Ryoma. “And if it’s possible, make me a little taller, but I don’t think you can do that.”

When Ryoma walked back out of the auditioning room, he nodded to Kirumi as he walked past and waited for her to finish hers.  _ There's no way I'm getting accepted with that audition,  _ thought Ryoma,  _ but I’m doing that ever again. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I updated this yesterday for some reason it wasn't showing up and it said that the last time that it was updated was at the end of December last year, but hopefully it'll work properly this time. This chapter was kinda hard to write because I wasn't sure what to do for Ryoma and having Kirumi be this irresponsible was hard to imagine. I hope that it's okay though.
> 
> Have a brilliant day/night! <3


End file.
